Offseason Power Rankings: Nuggets rank No. 1 in deep West
The Nuggets and Suns lead the offseason edition of our Western Conference Power Rankings.
There have been four different teams to represent the Western Conference in the Finals in the last four years. All four teams — the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets – are contenders to get there again in 2024.
But this may be the toughest Western Conference of the last several years to navigate. The East has actually had a better interconference record than the West in each of the last two seasons, but the West sure does look deeper this year.
Beyond the four conference champs of the last four years (who were also the four teams in the conference semifinals three months ago), we have …
- The teams — the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings — that finished second and third in the regular season last year.
- A team — the LA Clippers — with two of the best two-way players in the league.
- A team — the New Orleans Pelicans — that was 42-40 despite missing its best player for the last 45 games of the season.
- A team — the Dallas Mavericks — with two of the best offensive players in the world.
That’s nine teams, so at least one of the above will not make the playoffs. And it could be more than one because the Oklahoma City Thunder were competitive (finishing 40-42) last season and have a slew of young players that will only get better. The Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs last season and have a 22-year-old, budding star. The Houston Rockets are coming from the bottom of the standings but added some vets to expedite their rise.
The Utah Jazz hung around in the playoff picture for far longer than anybody expected last season. The San Antonio Spurs added the most-hyped Draft pick of the last 20 years. And for the time being, the Portland Trail Blazers still have Damian Lillard.
Some of these teams won’t live up to expectations, but some will surpass them. Here’s how things stack up in the Western Conference with free agency in the rear-view mirror and Lillard still residing in Portland.
For these offseason rankings, we’re looking at each conference separately, having sorted through the East last week. All stats refer to the 2022-23 regular season unless otherwise noted.
Previous Power Rankings
- April 3: Celtics vault to No. 1 as season’s final week begins
- This time last year: Offseason Power Rankings: Warriors, Suns lead wide-open Western Conference — The Warriors were the defending champs but had lost Mike Brown (to the Kings) and some key reserves. Kawhi Leonard and Jamal Murray were coming back after missing all of the 2021-22 season, and the Nuggets strengthened their backcourt by adding Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Mavs lost Jalen Brunson, the Spurs traded Dejounte Murray, and the Wolves paid a lot to team Rudy Gobert with Karl-Anthony Towns. The Blazers brought in Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II to help their defense, while the Thunder drafted Chet Holmgren and two guys with the same name. The Jazz hired Will Hardy and traded Gobert, but had yet to deal Donovan Mitchell.
OffRtg: Points scored per 100 possessions (League Rank)
DefRtg: Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank)
NetRtg: Point differential per 100 possessions (League Rank)
Pace: Possessions per 48 minutes (League Rank)
The league averaged 114.1 points scored per 100 possessions and 99.8 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes last season.
NBA.com’s Power Rankings, released every Monday during the season, are just one man’s opinion. If you have an issue with the rankings, or have a question or comment for John Schuhmann, send him an e-mail or contact him via Twitter.
